Choosing Simplicity: A Commentary on the Bhikshuni Pratimoksha by Wu Yin & Thubten Chodron

Author:Wu Yin & Thubten Chodron
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Snow Lion
Published: 2001-01-25T00:00:00+00:00

Prayascittika 74: If bhikshunis pat each other's (sexual organs), they commit a prayascittika.

Interaction among bhikshunis should be positive and helpful, and sharing sexual pleasure distracts them from the path. In addition, two bhikshunis developing a special relationship of attachment affects the entire community. We need to find a balance between being isolated and being too close to others. A bhikshuni needs companions with whom she can practice the Dharma, but she should not become physically intimate with them, because that will cause her to forget that her purpose is to practice the Dharma.

Masturbation

Prayascittika 71: If a bhikshuni shaves the hair of three places (pubic area and two armpits), she commits a prayascittika.

At the time of the Buddha, a bhikshuni sat in a way that revealed part of her body. Some laywomen saw and thought that she shaved her pubic area. To make sure this was the case, they invited her to bathe with them. At first she refused, but the laywomen pressured her. When they undressed in the bathing house, they confirmed that the bhikshuni had shaved her pubic and underarm hair. Out of curiosity, they asked her why she did that, to which she replied, "It is my habit. I did it before I became a nun too." Puzzled, the laywomen said, "We shave the hair of the three places either to attract our husbands or boyfriends or to have some sexual pleasure. As a nun, why do you do this?" As a result, the Buddha made this precept.

Some exceptions to this precept exist. If an ill bhikshuni needs an operation requiring the shaving of this hair, no transgression is committed. In this case, shaving the hair is not done for sexual satisfaction or to look good for her partner.

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